Marshall Announce Second Slash Signature Model - The AFD100

Legendary louder-maker Marshall has announced that it is working on a new signature guitar amplifier for Slash – the AFD100.

Legendary louder-maker Marshall has announced that it is working on a new signature guitar amplifier for Slash – the AFD100.

The company is aiming to recreate the tone that the guitarist captured with Guns N’ Roses on early-90s rock-mammoth ‘Appetite For Destruction’ (hence the “AFD” model number).

While news is still pretty thin on the ground on this one (ie, you can’t see what it looks like yet), Marshall is running a dedicated website that has so far been fairly-frequently updated with various news titbits regarding the new amp’s conception and development.

They’re obviously undertaking one of those slow-burn, long-tail, interweb marketing strategies and as TG will be keeping you updated on the AFD, it’s obviously working…

The latest post revealed that Marshall’s engineers have been handed Slash’s original studio cuts from ‘Nightrain’, so the firm is obviously intent on creating a pretty-faithful rendition of the album's seminal guitar sound. It’s also meant that said engineers get to hear unreleased alternative rhythm and solo parts for the track. Which must be nice for them.

Those of you confused over the need for TWO Slash-approved Marshall amps should know that the first one (released back in ’96) was essentially a re-issue of their Silver Jubilee model – Slash’s preferred amp at the time and one that was no-longer in production.

In contrast, the AFD100 is an attempt to re-create the tone of a modified JCM800 2203 rental amp that the guitarist used for the ‘Appetite’ sessions, and thus the sound that we were all after the first time round.

Why can’t they just use the original amp to find the sound they’re after? Well, having found the tone he wanted on a rental, Slash naturally refused to return the hallowed Marshall, thereby forcing the rental firm to nick it from his studio when his back was turned and it seems that they’ve kept it well hidden ever since. Where it is now, nobody knows…

Slash's AFD100, along with his new signature Gibson Les Paul and Seymour Duncan pickups, are featured in our 'Hot 10 For 2010' in TG 199 (on news-stands 19 February and on your door mat 13 February - if you're a subscriber).